West Virginia Attorney General issued the following announcement on Oct. 20.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office be involved in this weekend’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day by partnering with law enforcement and substance abuse prevention groups across West Virginia.
Representatives from the Attorney General’s Office will assist state agencies and groups in staffing take back sites around the state Saturday, October 23.
The Attorney General’s Office also will coordinate with Capitol Police and the state Department of Homeland Security for a take back location from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday, October 23. There will be a collection site at the Capitol Complex’s new “Safe Zone,” located near the Culture Center at the intersection of Greenbrier Street and Washington Street.
“I encourage anyone who has unused or unwanted prescription medications to participate in this important event so we can get potentially dangerous drugs off the streets,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “Take Back Day has the potential to both reduce diversion of prescription opioids and help identify overprescribing in our state. Every container of unused, unwanted and expired medication has the potential of falling into the wrong hands, so safely disposing of these medications is crucial to limiting supply and ending senseless death in West Virginia.”
The Attorney General’s Office has participated in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day each year since 2013. The office’s locations this weekend will be among more than 75 collection sites in West Virginia.
Elsewhere Saturday, the Attorney General’s Office will assist the Brooke County Sheriff’s Department at the Brooke County Courthouse in Wellsburg; the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department in Vienna; the Beckley Police Department at the Raleigh County Commission on Aging in Beckley; the Logan County Sheriff’s Department at the Fountain Place Mall in Logan; and the Morgantown Police Department at Kroger in Morgantown.
The DEA spearheads Drug Take Back Day, which was initially launched in 2010. During the event, local and state law enforcement agencies collect unused medication and responsibly dispose of it. The DEA typically hosts two prescription drug take back days per year with one in the spring and one in the fall.
The Attorney General Public Health Trust previously awarded prescription drug incinerators to law enforcement agencies across the state. The incinerators are used to destroy unwanted/expired pills and are shared among law enforcement agencies.
The incinerators were awarded through the Dispose Responsibly of Prescriptions (DRoP) initiative, which also distributed drug disposal drop boxes throughout the state.
Original source can be found here.
